I wonder if it is true that the truest agreement emerges between people disposed in some way to disagree with one another. In a sense, there is a profound disagreement between Alan Jacobs and I, in that he believes deeply that the world before us is evidence of a benevolent creator, and I do not. He believes in the Father (God), I believe in the Mother (nature). But that disagreement only seems to increase my regard for his opinion. Of course this is not always true, but I think there is something in the way we can admire a person who holds such a different view of the world.